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Mishka: In Chains, On Strings
Mishka knew what was going to happen the instant the parasite got inside him. It crawled down his throat, cutting off his air, and he tried to choke it up, but it just kept fighting its way down. His body shuddered and went numb. He lost feeling in his fingers first, then his arms, then his legs and torso. He inhaled to scream and couldn't. His mouth wouldn't move. He couldn't breathe. His chest wouldn't move. At first, Mishka panicked, filled with an overwhelming feeling of airless suffocation. Then, slowly, he realized he didn't need to breathe anymore. This thing was keeping him alive without air. Goro was still on the ground. His eyes were wet and black. (What the fuck? How had Goro gotten possessed? When had Goro gotten possessed? Had Goro been infected with a parasite while Mishka's back was turned? How--?) The crow's nest was chilly. Mishka could still feel that part. The three Graverunners on the ground were looking up at them; the tiefling looked concerned. "Goro?" she called up. Then Goro got up. His body moving like a puppet. His mouth twisted in a cold, inhuman, gleeful smile. And Goro tossed Mishka a second vial with a second larvae inside. NO, fuck, NO, NO, NO. Mishka understood everything in a split second. Ripley's next, he thought in an instant, because that's what he would do if he were Diva. He would hit the most powerful first. Ripley was incapacitated, from what he'd seen. He could teleport there instantaneously. He'd used this exact same tactic with some of his mind control spells before. It was like watching two carriages crash into each other, knowing it was coming, but fucking helpless to stop it. Go downstairs and get her up! he wanted to scream. Go tell her what's going on! '' He already had a plan. There were a total of nine people on the ship, minimum. He and Goro, then Larkin Basha, the tortle, an elf he'd never seen before, Jonn, Nixie, Ripley's wife, and then Ripley. Ripley. Half-dead, but still on her feet, still able to defend herself if they'd just go fucking get her, if she knew it was coming, if Mishka could say something, if Mishka could say '''anything'. That made a total of seven Graverunners, if he counted Jonn among them; six if not. Enough to fight Mishka off if they got together into one area, if they grabbed Ripley and got her into a larger area, if they kept Ripley surrounded to keep her from getting possessed. All they had to do was hurt him bad enough. The hivemind wouldn't risk its newest host getting killed; it would teleport him away. All they had to do was hurt him. All they had to do was hurt him. He wanted to lean over the crow's nest and scream it at them. Instead, his body grabbed Goro, pulled Goro into his arms, and then vanished with a crack below deck. Category:Vignettes